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It was an early start today after massive thunderstorms had kept us awake last night. We were at the dock about 5.10am and it was freezing down there. There was a process we had to go through - id checks, car checked underneath with a mirror on a stick and then the car parked in a numbered row. We both had to go into the terminal until all drivers were called at 5.30am. Only one was allowed to drive the car onto the ferry and the other had to walk on.
There were hardly any people on board - maybe 20. The ride across Lake Michigan took about 2.5hrs. About halfway through the trip we decided to go up on the Sun Deck. There was no sun, just freezing cold wind. We didn't stay up there long!!!!
We disembarked in Muskegon, Michigan and had to put our watches forward an hour. We are staying for 2 nights in Holland which was not too far south of Muskegon. We had decided to drive north a bit to see that area before heading to Holland. We got to Hart which was nearly 40 miles away but the rain had got heavier and heavier. We turned around and headed south.
There seems to be 2 parts to Holland - the everyday part and the tourist part. We are staying in the tourist part and it is just lovely. There are lots of nice buildings, shops, galleries and sculptures in the streets.
Our first stop this afternoon was the Holland Post Office where I sent 3 packages home. We can only take 1 bag on the domestic flight from Philadelphia to LA and I already have way too much.
After that we went to Windmill Island Gardens. There is a windmill here that was shipped in pieces from The Netherlands and rebuilt here 250yrs ago. It is a working windmill - they grind wheat into flour here. We had a tour of the windmill which was really interesting. We also had a demonstration of an Amsterdam street organ which was great. It was amazing to see how it works. There was also a miniature Dutch village and a wooden shoe shop. I bought a pair of clogs, called Klompen. They are very cool.
When we left the island we looked around part of the town. We came across a sculpture of a family singing and playing instruments. When we got close we heard music playing. Very cool!!!!!!
Early night tonight as we are both tired. I hope tomorrow is warm and sunny.
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